Armie Hammer on seductive new film, 'Call Me By Your Name'

Tens of thousands of attendees showed their pride and support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community on Sunday at the 26th annual Pride Celebration, which organizers are calling the largest in the event's history.

The frigid temperatures of winter may be blowing in, but it’s a different story at the movies with Italian auteur Luca Guadagnino’s sensual new romantic drama, “Call Me By Your Name,” now playing in select cinemas.

Set in the smoldering summer of 1983 in romantically remote northern Italy, the film is the story of 17-year-old American-Italian teen Elio Perlmam, played by Timothée Chalamet, falling in love with Oliver, played by Armie Hammer, an American adult spending the summer as an intern for Elio’s father, a professor played by Michael Stuhlbarg.

(For a look at the LGBT community here in New Jersey, watch the video above.)

Guadagnino has said that “Call Me By Your Name” closes his thematic trilogy on the topic of desire, following his acclaimed “I Am Love” (2009) and “A Bigger Splash” (2015).

Juliette Binoche, centre, laughs, as she stands behind Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, and Nicole Kidman as actors and directors from former Cannes selections pose during the photo call for the '70th Anniversary' of the Cannes International Film Festival. Thibault Camus, AP

Cannes mayor David Lisnard, (C) General Delegate of the Cannes Film Festival Thierry Fremaux (6th L), President of the Cannes Film Festival Pierre Lescure (8th L), French actress Isabelle Huppert (4th R) and staff of the festival observe a minute of silence, Tuesday, to pay homage to the victims of the Manchester terrorist attack that occurred a day before, on May 22, 2017 at the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Anne-Christine Poujoulat, AFP/Getty Images

Arnold Schwarzenegger goes barefoot on the Cannes shore during the 'Wonders of the Sea 3D' photocalll at Nikki Beach on May 20, 2017. The former California governor, who narrated the film, has been involved with environmental causes for years. Antony Jones, Getty Images

Author Brian Selznick and Michelle Williams leave the screening of 'Wonderstruck' during the Cannes Film Festival. The movie was presented in the Official Competition of the festival which runs from May 17 to 28. Ian Langsdon, EPA

The eyes have it for German actor Meinhard Neumann! Neumann and his 'Western' cast member Veneta Fragnova arrive for the screening of their film at the 70th Cannes Film Festival, Thursday. Alberto Pizzoli , AFP/Getty Images

Elle Fanning, left, and Susan Sarandon embrace as they arrive, Wednesday, for the screening of the film 'Ismael's Ghosts' (Les Fantomes d'Ismael) during the opening ceremony in Cannes. Valery Hache, AFP/Getty Images

Chinese actress and member of the Feature Film jury Fan Bingbing, left, jury member Jessica Chastain and Spanish director and President of the Feature Film Jury Pedro Almodovar pose during a photocall ahead of the opening ceremony of the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Loic Venance, AFP/Getty Images

Hammer, who had his break-out performance as the Winklevoss twins in “The Social Network” (2010), said the atmosphere on the set of “Call Me By Your Name” was “almost entirely analogous to the tone of the film.”

“You know, that sort of languorous, relaxed, comfortable, sensual, almost sweaty, hot vibe was there all day every day when we were shooting,” said Hammer. “You know, Luca really set the tone as the director does. He set the tone for the rest of the film and for the rest of the crew, so he intentionally kept it a very relaxed, comfortable, open, non-judgmental space where people just felt like they could truly be themselves and be happy.”

Based on the novel by André Aciman and with a screenplay by art house cinema legend James Ivory, the film is now playing in New York City at the Paris Theatre, 4 W. 58th St., and the Regal Union Square 14, 850 Broadway.

The film opens Friday, Dec. 8, at the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Brooklyn, 445 Albee Square West. Starting on Friday, Dec. 22, the film will start to arrive in New Jersey theaters, expanding to more locations on Friday, Jan. 19. (For tickets, screening locations and more information, visit sonyclassics.com/callmebyyourname.)

Hammer, who in recent years starred in mainstream Hollywood blockbuster fare such as “The Lone Ranger” (2013) and “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” (2015), discussed how the process of collaborating with Guadagnino and Chalamet represented a personal and professional change of pace for him.

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“It was just a world that I had never really been a part of," Hammer said. "As someone who grew up in sort of like conservative white America, you don’t talk about your feelings, you don’t talk about your desires, you certainly don’t have long conversations about the nature of desire and what it means to crave something and all of that. So it was kind of eye-opening and a beautiful experience to get to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.”

"Because the thing about this film is anybody — regardless of your orientation or identification or age or race or whatever — you can watch this film and you can remember the first time you felt infatuated with somebody or the first time you felt comfortable enough to sort of present the open and honest, raw, unguarded version of yourself to somebody else and to have it received and appreciated and then reciprocated, when someone then gives you them.

"We can all identify with that, you know? And that’s a beautiful thing that makes love what it is and that’s a very base, human thing.”